October 10, 2017 Bryce Canyon NP to Wahweap, AZ

This morning we were the coldest yet at 19 degrees. We ran out of propane early this morning at 5 AM so it was a little chilly in the trailer. The fireplace was still heating the room, so we had some heat in the main salon. Bob switched the propane tanks and the furnace kicked on shortly after. It still took some time for the trailer to warm up, especially on the floor. Even Auggie stayed cuddled up in a blanket until things warmed up. We had to wait until almost 9:00 before we were able to hook up to water. Bob took the empty propane tank up to the office to get it filled. It’s nice to have that convenience right at the campground. Before he could drive the truck, he came in to ask me if I had an ice scraper to scrape the windshield. What a hoot! We are both looking forward to some warmer days after these last two cold ones. 

He came back from the office because they could not fill the propane tank. You guessed it! Their tank was frozen and they could not fill any containers. Bummer! We’ll have to refill when we get to Page. We waited as long as we could to go outside and pack up, but it was already 9:30 and later than we wanted to leave, so we sucked it up and went outside. Bob discovered that our gray water tank was frozen, so he couldn’t empty it. We would have to carry it with us today which adds some weight and cuts down on our gas mileage. It was another sunny day without a cloud in the sky. We haven’t had any clouds in Utah for over a week. Amazing! The temp had risen quickly to 43 degrees by the time we got on the road at 10:30. We would be traveling back on the same highway we came on–Scenic Highway 12 through Red Canyon.

The sun was behind us coming from this direction, so it really lit up the rocks. We got to go back through those 2 red rock tunnels again.

Once we got over the pass in Red Canyon (Elev. 7619 ft.), we got a great view of the green valley below us.

The colors were fabulous driving through the canyon. It was beautiful seeing some of the same bluffs coming from the other direction. This time we got to see all of Kanab, UT as we took Highway 89 east to Wahweap, AZ through town.

The road took us along the southern edge of the Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

We crossed into Arizona from Utah near the end of our drive today. We drove through rolling hills of sagebrush while the red bluffs on the north of us jutted out like fingers.

The scenery was beautiful. We had never been on this road before even though we had driven to Lake Powell in the early 90’s to rent a houseboat, but we had been on the north end of the lake. Our campground would be on the south end. 

From high in the hills we could see the sapphire blue water of Lake Powell. The blue water against the pink and white rocks was very striking.

It came into better view as we descended from the high country.

The northern Wahweap entrance was closed, so we went 5 miles further to enter the south entrance.

Lake Powell is part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, so we had to show our Senior Pass to enter the park.

We drove in about 4 miles to the campground office where we checked in. 

Our site was #1 in the B loop. It was a drive through site on the top of a hill that had a great view of the lake.

We arrived at 1:30 and were all set up by 2:00. Auggie really liked his new digs with lots of rabbits all around. We sat outside and watched the campers arrive all afternoon. They said that the campground would be full, so there was a lot of activity. The sun was warm and the temp had reached 57 by mid-afternoon. I finally got to put on my shorts for a change. We are looking forward to our time here at Lake Powell. We are all signed up to take a boat tour of Lake Powell with a hike to Rainbow Bridge on Thursday. We really miss being near the water, so this will be our “water fix” until we get home. We’ve got some errands to run in Page and we want to take a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam which is on our list of places to see. The sun set in the west and set the rocks across the lake “on fire”. It was a beautiful evening. We’ve got 4 wonderful days to enjoy the area.

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *